Johannesburg – Christmas has come early for all the Gauteng small-holder egg producers.
For the first time, they can now sell their eggs to the country’s leading retail shops such as Pick n Pay, Boxer, Macro, and Game.
The Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (GDARD), working together with the South African Poultry Producers Association has made this possible by establishing a high-tech egg pack house in West Rand.
Operated by a co-operative called Shumbaset, the computerised facility can pack 72 000 eggs per hour, bringing the monthly total to 11.5 million.
“I want to see my egg production business growing,“ said a beneficiary farmer, Prudence Mokgoshi.
“My egg production is 100 000 monthly but I will supply Shumbaset egg pack house with 40 000 eggs monthly and sell the rest to my other markets so I can have cash flow to run my business.”
Mokgoshi said that Shumbaset “comes to my farm to collect eggs, I don’t pay for transport, grading, packaging, and brand printing”.
She added: “This is a very cheap arrangement because egg packaging is a costly process.
“That’s why I have agreed to give them 40% of my egg production.
“My profit per dozen after all transport, grading, and packaging costs, is about R22.30 and then per crate, I get R55.00.”
Another Gauteng-based beneficiary member of the Shumbaset egg packhouse facility Willie Bosoga said that the high-tech facility accepts eggs from all smallholder suppliers.
The eggs are machine-graded, and packed with each supplier’s brand name printed on crates containing the eggs that they supply.
“Alternatively, Shumbaset can buy the eggs from the farmers, then use its brand and sell them to the big retail shops,” said Bosoga.
“Farmers are paid for their egg supplies after deducting the cost of marketing and branding the eggs. Then what remains is paid to the farmers as profit.”
GDARD Chief Director of Agro-processing, Motlatjo Makaepea said that the high-tech egg packhouse, “is going to ensure as required by regulations and retail shops that each pack of eggs can be traced back to the farm where the eggs were produced”.
The high-tech egg facility was officially opened by Gauteng Acting Premier Vuyiswa Ramokgopa.
